


Cruelty in The First

by ChasingTheSea



Series: J.D. Chronicles [1]
Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers Jason Dean, jasondean, jd - Fandom
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Veronica Sawyer, Dark, Drinking, Drugs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, F/M, Homophobic Language, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, References to Drugs, Smoking, Teen Romance, Underage Smoking, jason dean - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:54:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24718594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChasingTheSea/pseuds/ChasingTheSea
Summary: The Dean family arrives in the sleepy little town of Sherwood, Ohio and with them follows eventual disastrous conclusions.Eighteen-year-old Jason Dean suffers from a physically abusive father, who murdered his mother five years ago and now lives with an equally psychopathic wife.J.D. sees no out of the only life he has ever known and has little inhibition for existing, except the enjoyment he feels through his rebellious intent towards others around him, that is until he meets a bright, brown-eyed girl in Westerburg High School, Veronica Sawyer, who slowly shows him there is much more to life, than taking your own...But with his father's twisted nature at work in his very soul, is it just to little to late?
Relationships: Jason "J. D." Dean & Veronica Sawyer, Jason "J. D." Dean/Veronica Sawyer
Series: J.D. Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787260
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Cruelty in The First

A set of arched brows and dark squinted eyes gazed out on the quiet little town in front of him, Sherwood. He could hear distant voices, the rumble of car engines, the lights twinkled yellow and blurred between soft snowfall and tears. 

If they only knew... 

If anyone only cared... 

Jason Dean pulled his long, black coat closer around himself, fighting off the chill, he puffed on another cigarette. The ascending smoke joined the haze in front of him. A haze... he chuckled to himself, pretty much a reflection of his life, a blurry, hazy mess. Sleepless nights, haunting thoughts, beatings and cigarettes... what a life. 

He might have been alright with actual sleep tonight but going back home would almost certainly earn him another walloping from Bud Dean aka Dad. He glanced down at the blood encrusted claw marks, wrenched around his wrist, yet another ugly reminder of his father’s uncontrollable anger and cruel focus on his only son. 

What had sparked it this time? Jason wasn’t even sure... he remembered mumbling something to the new Mrs. Dean about not wanting spaghetti for dinner. He was supposed to address her that way, as Mrs. Dean, or mom... J.D. gritted his teeth, if either of them thought he was going to call that bitch mom they just as well be waiting for hell to freeze over too. Anyway, he’d accidentally called her Vera... 

Apparently, that was enough for his dad, he’d been on him before he even knew what he had done, shoving him into the cupboards with enough force to crack the front of the door. J.D. barely twisted away from his grasp, the claw marks on his flesh were a result of his escape. 

“You should have just taken it.” J.D. whispered to himself, he knew full well the repercussion of what would happen next, it would be worse and really why had he messed up her title? It was a simple thing to get someone’s name right, maybe he didn’t blame his dad for smacking him around... but the innocent side of his brain wondered if that much emotion was a necessary reaction for what he’d done. 

It was sometime after midnight that he decided to go have a look at the school he’d be attending, starting tomorrow. It was fucking freezing on the roof he’d been sitting on, maybe there was somewhere to shack up in the school, overnight. He could blend in with the kids tomorrow as they came in. 

J.D. stopped in the Anytime Convenience store on the way by, for a snack, he didn’t have any money with him but swiping a bag of pretzels and a jerky stick out from under the nose of a half-asleep cashier, who was older than Moses, while avoiding one security camera was not a challenge for skills he’d honed in the likes of Las Vegas and Baton Rouge. 

Jason stopped at the slushy machine for a minute, licking his lips, before he talked himself out of it. The machine and the cups would make too much noise, he didn’t want to risk waking the cashier, he really had had enough excitement for one day. He helped himself to a city map on the way out, just as a semi-truck driver pushed by him on his way in. 

He stuffed the pretzels in one of his coat pockets feeling the burn of the scratch on his wrist against the rough material. He ate the jerky on the way, keeping his other hand tucked in the pocket to keep warm. 

The map was hardly necessary, he found the school without evening looking at it. Same non-descript, cream colored structure he’d seen a hundred times, in the various moves they’d made from state to state. Westerburg High was more of a mix between a prison and a castle then some he’d seen, of course to J.D. it was an escape, fucked up as that sounded. 

Among his camera avoidance skills, Jason could also pick a door lock with a hairpin. He found one of those in the parking lot drain and found his way into the school through a side door around back, no doubt used by the janitor staff. 

He shivered, pulling the door closed behind him, luckily there was a light on in the hallway. Everything was silent, even so, he moved quietly and ensured he left everything the way he found it. 

Originally, he’d been thinking a corner of the gym floor would do nicely, but then he spotted the small tag next to another door, inside the gym labeled boiler room and all he could do was envision warmth. He made his way down several flights of stairs, until he reached the large room, containing the boilers for the school’s heating system, this was a better place to hide anyway. 

J.D. chose a concealed corner behind one of the boiler engines, to lay his coat out and tuck in. This wasn’t the first time he’d spent the night in a school, and he doubted it would be his last. The hum of the engines and the warmth soaking into his frigid bones, quickly lulled him to a nightmarish sleep. 

~~~ 

The ringing echo of a door clanging closed jarred J.D. out of a stiff sleep. He bolted upright, pulling his legs up and rubbing his eyes. For a minute he thought he must have imagined it, but then the same clang rang out again, he pulled himself further into a ball, to avoid detection. Someone must have come in and then went out again, silence enveloped the room, just encase he waited another ten minutes before attempting to move any part of himself. 

And then even when he did, it was silently tip toeing to the end of the machinery. He peeked around the edge, pushing black hair out of his eyes that immediately fell back over his pale face. 

Nothing. Empty. 

It was time to join the other students, a glance at the clock informed him. J.D. tried to open the exit door more silently than who ever had come in and went out. The gym was empty, he stole the opportunity to scurry across, slinging his coat on as he went and using both hands to try to fix his mop of hair. 

He made it back out the janitor exit without being seen, pausing behind a wall near one of the school buses, to light up another cigarette, before stepping out to join the other seniors. No one paid him much mind, those that noticed him would think he was grabbing a caffeine hit before class. 

Another day, another high school. J.D. didn’t even feel weird anymore being the new kid, the one people were more likely to stare at, as he wondered down the hallway, like a zombie, looking for the check in office. 

Later, he found himself mindlessly fiddling with his earring when the clerk finally shouted at him. He glanced up at the middle-aged woman with bobbed red hair and swallowed. “What?” 

“It’s Ma’am.” She said flatly. 

He felt a sliver of heat flush his checks. “What, Ma’am?” 

“I was telling you everything seems to be in order. Here.” She thrust his class schedule and a brown folder of various other papers into his hand. “Your father needs to sign that and bring it back by Friday. First class is American history. Scoot.” 

J.D. rolled his eyes, ensuring she caught the movement before he left the office. Ninth school he'd been kicked out at and all the registration offices were the same. Filled with crotchety middle-aged women who hated their boring, muted lives and took it out on the students who had the misfortune to come in. Where the fuck is history class, anyway? He thought about going back to the office but he doubted he would get anything from her, instead he made his way into a jostling sea of chattering kids. It would be better to be late than dismissed again by that bitch. 

Fuck, he needed coffee, or more of the cigarette he’d had to put out before coming in... 

And he’d arrived at the end of the hall, no American History class. He was five minutes late. He didn’t have any books; he hadn’t checked out his locker. Good to know he was already making his usual impression here in Ohio. 

“Hey, are you lost?” 

Jason looked up from his schedule sheet into the soft brown eyes and smooth porcelain face of another student or an angel, he wasn't sure in his dazed state. “Um yeah, pretty much. First day here.” 

She gave him a small smile and glanced over her shoulder, almost as if she was worried about being seen. With him? J.D. frowned. “What’s the class?” 

He scratched his head. “American History.”  
“Oh, that’s on the other side of the building, here come with me, I’ll show you.” 

J.D. nodded his thanks, falling in step behind her. He should at least voice a proper thank you, ask her name, introduce himself. Instead, he was unusually aware that he needed a shower, he hadn’t seen a toothbrush for two days, his had been lost in the final move. And why would someone like her care who the hell he was? She had clique written all over her. He could smell something expensive trailing behind her movements, all her visible skin was well maintained. Silky smooth, actually he noticed, staring at the back of her legs, as she walked. 

About then she glanced over her shoulder and he quickly looked away. She was about to say something when another girl bumped into her, this one was blonde, and no doubt the head of the pack. 

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Sawyer. I thought you were going to pick me up this morning?” Before the brunette could answer she took notice of J.D.’s proximity to one of her own and stepped between them. 

“You realize you’re trailing some garbage don’t you, V?” 

“Jesus, Heather, claws in. I was just showing him his class, you know how Mrs. Caushner is.” 

“Yeah, whatever. I had to take the bus; you knew the shop has my car all week!” She glanced back at J.D. as if she’d entirely forgotten him. “Look your class is just there. Try not to spread AIDS on your way in, fag.” She wiped her hands on her skirt in a meaningful gesture of her thoughts about him. 

Several things went through his head, hitting her in the face, just touching her would probably do the trick, considering her thoughts about diseases. Instead, the only outward expression he reciprocated was a meaningful pinch between his pointed eyebrows. He shoved by her, catching the other senior’s gaze with more ease then he thought possible. 

“Thanks.”

A half hour into history class and J.D. miraculously found himself thinking about something other than the approaching repercussions for what happened last night in the Dean house... He hadn’t heard much the teacher was saying, from his bland introduction of Jason to the entire class, or his current ramble about Mount Rushmore. His mind was busy replaying her face, that last glance as he’d thanked her.

At first, he just enjoyed thinking about something that beautiful, compared to his dark existence but several hours later he wasn’t sure what emotion he’d caught a glimpse of, reflected in her eyes. It seemed like intrigue, but had he misinterpreted it? Was it just because he was the new kid? At other schools he was considered the bad boy. Which he had to admit, caught the junior and senior's attention, not that he reciprocated it much. He never knew when Daddy dearest was going to pack them up and move them to a new state to, “Bring it to a higher state.” Dating seemed pointless, plus there was the bruises, cuts, the yelling... J.D. self-consciously pulled his cuff further down his wrist. 

The lunch bell was suddenly ringing before he knew it. An indication he’d survived his classes thus far as the “new boy,” he hadn’t been bullied yet and one teacher didn’t even notice him as the new addition. J.D. smirked, it was shaping up to be a good day. 

The cafeteria was similar to most he’d seen. Westerburg was maybe louder than some, everyone at this school was extremely rambunctious. He had to avoid a squad of quibbling nerds and a three-way jock argument just to get to a corner table out of the way. He sat down next to a boy who was unconsciously snoring into his forearm on the table. J.D. barely acknowledged him, his eyes flicked back to the crowd, searching... 

He hadn’t seen her since this morning, maybe she’d left school. No, there she was. Oddly enough it was the blonde he noticed first, well, two blondes now, the bitchy one from earlier and another one that was in his American History class. There was one on each side of the brunette, another girl walked up to them, a red head—Jesus, he was right, there was a whole posse of them. Unapproachable. Popular girls. The jocks drooled after them, the geeks were terrified they might cum on the spot and most other girls wouldn’t even look them in their face. 

Where did that leave J.D.? 

He heard at least two of them referring to each other as ‘Heather.’ The red head and the blonde from American History. He frowned again, enjoying the puzzle of who was who as they patrolled the caf with a clipboard, asking questions and scribbling down notes. 

The dark haired boy leaned back in his chair, as he watched them work, well mostly watching her. He didn’t even bother cloaking his inquisitive gaze. She knew eyes were on her, but it took a while to search him out. There were so many people staring, in-between stuffing their faces, he wasn’t surprised. 

But, when their gazes did finally cross paths, his heart skated to a stop, as if someone had stabbed him. The shudder running through his body was unlike anything he’d felt before. He could have sworn there was a blade in his chest but somehow it was exactly where it needed to be. J.D. wanted it there, as if he’d put it there himself, purposely. 

He drew an unsteady breath, but his gaze was unwavering, he waited patiently, swaying her to respond. The edges of her lips twitched slightly, just before blonde-history-class Heather tugged her away by the arm. 

It was long enough though and entailed all he needed. 

J.D. looked back down to his untouched meal with a smirk and slid it away. Maybe Sherwood Ohio was different after all. Maybe it was going to do something exceptional and break the mold... J.D.’s mold of a shitty, dead-end life. He found himself laughing at his own absurdity and insane banality. He’d barely spoken to anyone here, little lone the girl who’d stirred his heart with one smoky glance. 

Perhaps that was what made it all so authentic...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey readers,  
> Thanks for taking the time to read my little Heathers inspired fic and maybe dropping it some kudos. XoXo  
> This is a little different take on the brilliant characters in Heathers, which includes more violence, language, abuse, dirty comments, drinking, drugs etc please don't read if your triggered by any of these things.  
> My thinking is J.D. needed to have more psychologically damaging things going on in his life, so here it is, also what would have been different with Veronica's love....  
> There will be more chapters to come, hopefully they will get better as they go.  
> As a disclaimer I don't own Heather's, J.D. Veronica, etc. this is just writing I do in my free time to relax.


End file.
